Budd's RDC on the C&O

In September 1949, the Budd Company introduced its Rail Diesel Car (RDC). Originally offered in three configurations (full coach RDC-1; coach-baggage RDC-2; and coach-baggage-mail RDC-3the first mail-express RDC-4's were built in 1953), the RDC was promoted by its builder as a multi-purpose vehicle. More than a one-for-one postwar replacement for aging and uncomfortable gas-electric "doodlebugs," it also offered railroads the potential to convert marginal branchline and secondary locomotive-hauled trains to a more cost-effective operation. The cars' trademark Budd stainless steel architecture bespoke modernity, and while most RDC's did, in fact, end up relegated to branchline and secondary service, operators as disparate as Western Pacific and Baltimore & Ohio saw the cars' potential as mainline speedsters.

The Chesapeake & Ohio, through Ken Browne and his Office of Research Consultant in Cleveland, had been working on a similar concept of its own (see sidebar on page 10). As Budd's RDC- demonstrator No. 2960 toured the U.S. and Canada in the early 1950s and the industry embraced Budd's new product line, the C&O shelved design work on its experimental "Self-powered Car for Branch and Secondary Mainline Service" after considering, in the spring of 1952, the purchase of RDC-I's and RDC-4's for service on the Chesapeake District. In a May 14, 1952, letter to Divisional managers, C&O Superintendent J. E Schaffer outlined the weight and clearance restrictions for RDC operation and gave some insight into the otherwise unspecified plans for RDC use on this portion of the C&O. The cars under consideration would have been prohibited from the Seng Creek Tunnel (Seng Creek Subdivision), the Kanawha Bridge & Terminal Subdivision, from tracks 1 and 2 of the Lexington,Ky., station, and the Hot Springs, Va., cinder track. Speed restrictions also would have been imposed on the Afton, Va., passing track and over the Broadway Street Bridge on the Lexington Belt Line. Beyond these restrictions, Schaffer observed that, "RDC-1 and RDC-4 cars may be operated, as far as clearance and weight are concerned, on the main tracks and passing tracks of the Chesapeake District ...."

Budd's RDC-1 demonstrator No. 2960 reportedly was tested on at least one occasion between Richmond and Newport News, but by April 1953-when the C&O ceased further work on its own experimental self-powered car project-the railways interest in the RDC had waned. More than four years would pass before that interest was revived.

Old Becomes New

In September 1957 the C&O received three Budd RDC's in trade from the Chicago & North Western Railway and renumbered them 9060-9062. In return, the C&O sent surplus lightweight coaches 1664-1666 to the C&NW (where they operated until being sold to Southern Pacific in May 1961).

The former C&NW RDC's-the only examples on that railways roster until one was acquired for official use in the 1970swere among the earliest RDC's built, holding third, fourth (RDC-1), and ninth (RDC-2) spots in Budd's production serial numbers.

The cars were refurbished at the C&O's Huntington, W Wa., shops. Modifications included the application of diaphragms to both ends of RDC-1 No. 9061, and to the designated rear ends of the other two cars. Since the top of the diaphragms blocked the card headlights, new "frog-eye" light housings were fabricated and mounted above the diaphragms on the affected car ends. The front ends of RDC-2 No. 9060 and RDC- 1 No. 9062-the end-units of the three-car set-retained their as-built recessed headlight arrangement.

With their relatively quiet powerplants, RDC's had a habit of "sneaking up" on grade crossings. Despite the inherent strength of the Budd's stainless steel construction, the exposed operators' position and modest pilot arrangement meant that RDC's and their occupants would be particularly vulnerable in a grade crossing collision (as compared to a locomotive-hauled train). Two methods of enhancing the visibility of RDC's as they approached crossings were embraced by the C&O, in common with a number of other RDC operators. A tapered pattern of four-inch reflective yellow Scotchlite stripes was applied to the designated front end of RDC-1 No. 9062 and RDC-2 No. 9060. By 1960, when the three ex-C&NW cars were no longer always operated as a dedicated trainset, "middle" car No. 9061 also had yellow stripes applied to its front end. On the C&O, the front of the RDC-1's was the "five-window" end-the roof "hump" was offset, with six windows on one side of the wide central pier and five on the other. On the RDC-2, the baggage compartment marked the front. The C&O applied "F" stencils to the RDC-ls, but their location on No. 9062 curiously was at odds with the operational (and duly striped) front end of the car.

Another seeming inconsistency came in the form of equipment trust plates. For a time, the ex-C&NW RDC's bore C&O trust plates declaring the cars' owner to be-- remarkably-Pullman-Standard, Budd's carbuilding nemesis. This appears to have been an accounting exercise, with the RDC's bearing the trust plates formerly affixed to the trio of traded P-S coaches.

To make the approaching RDC's as visible as possible during both daylight and darkness, brackets were applied to the cars' end doors to accommodate a portable Pyle-- National Model 20585 Gyralite. As employed by the C&O on its RDC's, the upper white light threw a gyrating beam pattern during normal operation, with the lower red light activating automatically during an emergency brake application. (Oscillating headlights were common in the West, Midwest, and South, but the C&O was notable as one of the very few Mid-Atlantic railroads to make widespread use of the devices.)

The original single air horns were replaced by louder and more melodious Leslie triple chimes, providing-along with the ungainly bell-and-bracket assembly on the forward roof of each car-better auditory warning of the stealthy cars' presence in terminals and near stations and crossings.

C&O RDC-2 No. 9060 provided utilitarian walkover seating for 66, along with a 17-foot baggage section. RDC-I's 9061 and 9062, examples of the full-coach RDC variant, each seated 80 passengers. While car No. 9062 initially retained its original walkover seats, No. 9061 offered passengers the added comfort of high-backed, deeply padded, reclining seats. By 1960, the seats in No. 9062 had been similarly upgraded.

Debut of the Chessieliner

The trio entered revenue service on April 27, 1958, on the Peninsula and Piedmont Subdivisions, operating between Newport News and Charlottesville as the Chessieliner. The inauguration of scheduled service had been preceded by a press trip on April 10. Among the dignitaries aboard was Virginia Governor J. Lindsay Almond, who even took a turn at the horn.

All three Chessieliner units were operated as a single train that made one round trip daily as the connections for Trains 4 and 5; passengers made an across-the-platform change at Charlottesville. Effective August 10, 1958, a third trip was added by moving the connection with trains 4 and 5 to Gordonsville instead of Charlottesville. The RDC's left Newport News at 8:20 a.m., arriving at Gordonsville at 11:20 a.m. (No. 5 left Gordonsville at 11:35); they returned leaving Gordonsville at 12:18 p.m.-25 minutes after No. 4 had passed there-and arriving at Newport News at 3:20 p.m.. A third trip was then made, leaving Newport News a few minutes after train No. 41's departure and arriving at Charlottesville eight minutes after No. 41 came in. This schedule was evidently to accommodate overflow coach passengers for Charlottesville and for No. 1, and was abandoned after a few months.

Gene Huddleston offered the following recollection of the C&O's Tidewater RDC operations in the October 1975 issue of the C&OHS Historical Newsletter.

"The time that the Chessieliner met trains 4 and 5 at Gordonsville provided one of my high points as a railfan. In September 1958, I waited at Gordonsville as a local freight (headed by GP9 No. 5897, 1 believe) took siding for a meet with Chessie/iner. As soon as the Chessie/iner arrived, it went in on the short siding at G Cabin, and the engineer, very proud of the setup, took me on a tour of the three-unit affair. Needless to say, the arrival of No. 5, followed shortly by No. 4, was a scene of unforgettable activity."

A new arrangement took effect on October 25, 1959, whereby the RDC's operated from Newport News to Charlottesville in the morning, effecting a connection with No. 5, but not returning until the next day, leaving Charlottesville at 4:30 a.m. as No. 40 and arriving Richmond at 7:45 a.m.. The Budd cars left Richmond for Newport News at 7:25 p.m., arriving at 9:00, so as to be able to leave the next day for Charlottesville again the following morning. This necessitated additional equipment, so the original three-car set of Nos. 9060, 9061, and 9062 was broken up.

With the cars operating singly and in pairs, it became common to see the "unadorned" rear end leading since, by design, Budd RDC's were fully bidirectional. Lacking Scotchlite- stripes ormore critically-pilots, and with the rooftop bell at the opposite end of the car, the portable Gyralite afforded the only extra visibilty when the C&O RDC's operated in this fashion (see front cover).

Once the Chessieliner ceased to operate regularly as a three-car trainset, the resulting single or paired RDC's frequently were employed to haul heavyweight combines or express cars as unpowered trailers. The Budd Company had always frowned on this, threatening voided warranties on cars bought new and maintaining that, while the RDC could be temporarily de-powered and hauled as a trailer, it was not engineered to pull anything itself. Whether Budd's admonitions stemmed from a vested interest-the builder would have preferred, naturally, to supply RDC-4's to replace those express cars-or from legitimate engineering concerns, the C&O chose to ignore them and continued to haul various heavyweight head-end cars behind its out-of-warranty RDC's. What the C&O did not ignore, though, was the suitability of the RDC-4 to certain marginal niche traffic.

From "Minnie & Louie" to Chessie

Late in 1958 more secondhand RDC's arrived on the C&O, this time a pair of RDC-4's from the Minneapolis & St. Louis Railway. These were "paid for" with 32 C&O 70-ton hopper cars in a transaction engineered by A. Witt Hix, the C&O's vicepresident of purchases and stores.

Budd had introduced the RDC-4 as a shortened, non-passenger-carrying member of the RDC "family" dedicated to the carriage of baggage, express, and mail. The two M&StL cars-that road's only RDC'swere unique in that they had been customized by Budd to include a small passenger compartment at the baggage end. Whereas standard RDC-4's lacked the vestibule stepwells found on the other RDC models-crews boarded with the aid of rudimentary strap steps common to headend cars-the M&StL RDC-4's featured the stepwells on their coach-compartment end only. A total of five small windows-- absent from Budd's standard RDC-4's-- gave passengers a rather restricted view of the passing countryside.

The M&StL had acquired these cars-- its Nos. 32 and 33-to replace aging gas-electrics and protect its mail contract between Minneapolis and Des Moines. The "Peoria Gateway Route," as the M&StL was known, was a proponent of hauling unpowered trailers behind its RDC's. This practice would continue under the cars' C&O ownership. When the Post Office cancelled the M&StUs Minneapolis-Des Moines contract, the RDC-4's were declared surplus.

Both of these cars were almost new when they arrived on the C&O, at which time they were renumbered 9080 and 9081. Built in 1957, they exhibited Budd's "Phase II" mechanical and styling enhancements. No. 9080 seated 17 passengers, with a baggage compartment occupying the remainder of the car. Sister car No. 9081 also seated 17, but was equipped with an 18-foot baggage compartment and a 30-foot RPO apartment.

In early 1959, the recently acquired RDC-4's were placed in service as C&O trains 36 and 39 on the Big Sandy Subdivision between Ashland and Elkhorn City. No. 36 left Ashland at 6:45 a.m., arriving at Elkhorn City at 1:43 p.m. The southbound run included a brief side trip up the scenic Marrowbone Subdivision between Marrowbone and Hellier (eight miles) and return. Train No. 39 left Elkhorn City at 1:58 p.m., returning to Ashland at 6:16 p.m.

"About noon," recalls Gene Huddleston, "No. 36, on its way to Elkhorn City, made a side trip about eight miles up the branch from Marrowbone Junction to Hellier, through some economically depressed but nonetheless very scenic country. At Hellier, if I recall correctly, the crew changed ends and came back down to the junction, and changed ends again before making a station stop at Marrowbone. Usually the RDC left Ashland towing a mail storage car which was set off at Allen, Kentucky, and picked up on the return trip."

One More Time

The C&O's final RDC acquisition was its No. 9082, received from the MissouriKansas-Texas Railroad in June 1962 in trade for unspecified C&O equipment.

This RDC-3, another Phase II unit built in 1956 as M-K-T No. 20 and later renumbered 162, was equipped with seats for 49 along with the model's usual 12-foot baggage section and 15-foot RPO apartment. Like the two former M&StL RDC-4's, this car also featured fluted end panels. This cosmetic adornment interfered with the C&Os Scotchlite- end striping as originally applied to the trio of ex-C&NW cars. The end fluting dictated that two reflective yellow stripes be applied high on the car end, just below the windows, while the remaining three stripes were placed on the Phase II cars' larger flat pilots. All of the C&O's Phase II RDC's received striping on both ends.

The M-K-T's only RDC, it had been purchased to serve as a connection for the Texas Special between Denison and Wichita Falls, Texas, and to protect the postal contract on that 129-mile route.

The RDC-3's stay on the C&O was brief After migrating to fill a Detroit-- Deshler (Ohio) accommodation schedule on the newly affiliated B&O, No. 9082 moved even farther north with its 1965 sale to Canadian National as No. D-356. Renumbered 6356 in 1969, the car was conveyed to VIA Rail Canada in 1978 and eventually renumbered 6221.

Twilight

In April 1962, the Chessieliners connection with train No. 5 from Newport News was severed (as a part of downgrading that trains service), and the RDC's then went into service as trains 47 and 48 between Newport News and Richmond. The RDC's ran their last trip as the Chessieliner on March 4, 1967, thus ending the relatively short RDC era on the C&O.

C&O service on the Big Sandy was discontinued in August 1963, and the displaced pair of RDC-4's was sold in 1967 to Krautkramer Ultrasonics (a German engineering firm) for never-completed conversion to rail inspection cars. Stored for many years in the Boston area, No. 9081 became a fixture at the city's North Station where it was parked and used as a tool car after its October 1978 sale to the MBTA.

RDC-2 No. 9060 went to the B&O in 1965 as its No. 1970. The car was renumbered 9930 two years later as was retired in 1976 after being wrecked by vandals. RDC-1 No. 9061 became B&O No. 1971 in 1965, and was wrecked and retired in 1968. RDC-1 No. 9062 became B&O No. 1912 in 1968. Renumbered 9910 in 1970, it went to Boston as MBTA No. 10 in 1984 (still with its yellow end stripes and roofmounted bell) and was converted to an unpowered trailer in 1986. The former C&NW car reportedly survives as a museum piece in Duluth, Minnesota.

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful for the contributions of the following individuals: Shaun Arthur, Chuck Crouse, Patrick C. Dorin, Kevin T Farrell, Larry K. Fellure, Chuck Friedlein, William E Howes, Eugene L. Huddleston, Kevin P Keefe, and Margaret T Whittington.

Sources

C&O Annual Reports, 1957-1962

C&OHS Newsletter, October 1975

RDC, Duke & Kelly (Golden West Books, 1990)

The RDC Comes of Age (Budd sales publication)

Trains Magazine, April 1954; December 1968

Passenger Car Annual, 1973; 1980; 1984 (RPC)

Copyright Chesapeake and Ohio Historical Society, Inc. Nov 2001
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